Saturday, May 28, 2011

05/28/2011
If anything should be revamped in the prison system, it should be the way the system treats prisoners, which is almost inhuman, as prisoners are all expected to suffer in crowded cells, stinking bathrooms and virtually being fed with canine food.

Instead of having a rehabilitative penal system, what this country insists on is to even have a stricter punitive penal system, which is, in all probability, the reason prisoners who have the means to get themselves better prison lodgings and better food, get for themselves these “perks” and the reason too that corruption becomes even more intense.

Our jails are overcrowded, and yet there has been no move on the part of government, the executive and the legislative departments, along with the judiciary, past and present, to improve living conditions in jails, whether in Bilibid or in city jails, or provincial jails, for that matter.

What is wrong with giving convicts, and especially detainees in city jails, house arrests with electronic monitoring bracelets, for authorities to check on their whereabouts? Such a system would certainly help decongest jails..... MORE

05/28/2011
It has been some three weeks, if not a month, since Noynoy announced that he will be appointing losing vice presidential bet Mar Roxas as his chief of staff, and that an Administrative Order (AO), is being drafted to clarify the functions of Roxas as his chief of staff and the functions of his Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa.

Yesterday, while in Thailand on an official visit, Noynoy told reporters that he and his officials are still in the process of drafting the AO to detail the responsibilities of Roxas, adding that he wants Roxas to handle some political and internal management concerns, such as the Presidential Management Staff (PMS), along with other assignments Noynoy may be giving Mar from time to time.

He was quoted as saying that before finalizing the executive order for Roxas’ appointment, they will meet together with Ochoa to discuss the separation of functions and responsibilities.

Does it take that long for Noynoy to decide just what duties Mar is to be given, which is why to this date, there has been no AO from Malacañang?.... MORE

05/28/2011
BEIJING — The international community’s mixed response to China’s crackdown on dissent — ranging from public criticism to total silence — has handed Beijing leeway to maintain its hardline, experts say.

Since Chinese authorities, apparently spooked by the pro-democracy uprisings sweeping the Middle East, began detaining lawyers, artists and other activists in February, a parade of Western leaders have met with Beijing’s top brass.

Some have slammed China over the clampdown — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this month called it a “fool’s errand.”

Others like Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who visited Beijing last month, have avoided making criticism in public..... MORE

“What is happening in Mustad is a textbook case of illegal closure…of capitalists drastically undertaking illegal and anti-worker measures because they are confident the Aquino government won’t lift a finger to harm them,” said Leandro “Ka Doods” Gerodias, KMU deputy secretary-general and president of the Alliance of Democratic Labor Organizations (ADLO).By MARYA SALAMATBulatlat.com
MANILA – After 23 years of profitable operations in the Philippines, Norwegian firm Mustad, maker of “the best-selling hook-brand in the planet,” moved out some of its equipment from its factory in Quezon City on May 17. On May 24, it broke the news to its 200 workers that they were being terminated because the factory was shutting down operations. Mustad reportedly cited losses but the workers are disputing it.

“What is happening in Mustad is a textbook case of illegal closure. It is also a textbook case of capitalists drastically undertaking illegal and anti-worker measures because they are confident that the Aquino government won’t lift a finger to harm them,” said Leandro “Ka Doods” Gerodias, KMU deputy secretary-general and president of the Alliance of Democratic Labor Organizations (ADLO).

One of the three unions of workers in Mustad is an affiliate of ADLO-KMU.

(Contributed photo / bulatlat.com)

The said textbook case has also been commonly referred to as “runaway shop,” where a profitable company shuts down operations in one location only to reopen or continue operations in another location, with new, lower-paid and non-unionized employees.

Shutting down factories with unionized workforce has been a “common tactic used by capitalists in order to save on costs,” said Armand Hernando, documentation coordinator of non-government Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR). In documenting numerous similar cases, CTUHR found that “most companies that claim to have gone bankrupt actually just cease operations for a while and reopen with a new set of employees that are contractual and non-unionized. This definitely cuts costs and brings greater profits for the company.”

Mustad Terminal Tackle Philippines is a subsidiary of Mustad Norway that produces fishing hooks, rigs, flies among other metal fishing equipment for export. Prior to the sudden shutdown, most of its workers reportedly suffer from various degrees of heavy metal poisoning, as handling toxic chemicals was routine in their job..... MORE

MANILA — The Aquino administration and the Armed Forces of the Philippines claim that its new counterinsurgency program dubbed as Oplan Bayanihan is fundamentally different from the previous Arroyo administration’s bloody counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya. But the results of a recently-concluded peace mission in the Davao region revealed otherwise.

Duyog sa Panaw, a 73-member National Interfaith Peace and Mercy Mission led by Exodus for Justice and Peace (EJP), documented violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) by state agents victimizing more than 3,664 individuals in a span of only three months.

Participants to the mission visited Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur and Pantukan, Compostela Valley from May 21 to 23.

Bishop Modesto Villasanta, EJP convener, said violations documented ranged from extrajudicial killing, harassment, attack or use of public places for military purposes, illegal checkpoint, and land-grabbing of ancestral lands of indigenous peoples, and disrespect for indigenous traditional leadership and cultural rights.
“The killings of Rudy and his son Rudyric Dejos in Sta. Cruz and of Santos Manrique in Pantukan brought into the limelight the real face of Oplan Bayanihan and revealed what was concealed in the peace and development coating of the Aquino administration’s continuation of the wicked legacy of past counterinsurgency programs,” the mission said in a statement.

Father and son Dejos were found dead with gunshot and stab wounds inside their house on February 27. Manrique was shot dead by four unidentified armed men riding on motorcycles on April 12.

According to a testimony of one of the residents interviewed by the mission, Rudy, who actively campaigned against the military’s Barangay Defense System (BDS), received death threats from soldiers of the 39th IB. The testimony also revealed there are two witnesses who saw how the soldiers killed the Dejoses.
Based on the mission’s investigation, Manrique had also received death threats through text messages. In March this year, Manrique was held and harassed by elements of the 1001st Brigade in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley on his way home after meeting fellow small-scale miners.

In Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, the mission recorded 26 cases of human rights violations with 851 victims. The mission found out that elements of the 39th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) violated the international humanitarian law prohibiting the use of schools, medical, religious and other public places or facilities for military purposes.

The 39th IB also violated the rights of 22 individuals by coercing them to join the Barangay Defense System (BDS), the mission reported. The mission also said that soldiers of the 39th IB warned residents against joining rallies and progressive organizations.

The situation seemed no different in Pantukan, Compostela Valley. The mission reported that elements of the 71st IB violated IHL for using public places and facilities for military operations, affecting 480 individuals and 80 families.

The mission deemed that large-scale foreign mining interests resulted in violations of the IHL and the human rights of small-scale miners and their families of Gumayan, Brgy. Kingking. Americna firm Russel Mining and Minerals, Inc. is operating in the area..... MORE

According to the study made by the NUSP, since 2001, the national average tuition rate per unit increased by 94.72 percent. From the average of P257.41 per unit in A.Y. 2001-2002, the average tuition rate almost doubled to P501.22 for A.Y. 2010-2011. Meanwhile, in the National Capital Region where most universities and colleges are located, average tuition rate increased by 102.7 percent.

by INA ALLECO R. SILVERIOBulatlat.com
So what if the country’s universities are among the top in Asia? The government still neglects these institutions by commercializing education and making it less and less accessible to the poor majority of Filipinos.
This was the assertion of Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino in reaction to a recently released report on the Top 200 Asian Universities for 2011.

“Majority of the top Asian schools, including the leading Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, are state universities substantially funded and supported by their respective governments. This appreciation for tertiary education by other Asian governments are blatantly in contrast with the education policies of the Aquino administration. In our country, state universities and Colleges (SUCs) are institutions of destitution,” Palatino said.

Students led by Kabataan Party-List and the National Union of Students of the Philippines say that the Commission on Higher Education continues to fail in its role to ensure accessible and quality tertiary education in the country. They said the CHED has reneged on its promise made last year that there will be no tuition and other fee increases in state universities and colleges (SUCs) but, many SUCs have already jacked their fees this coming enrollment period. (Photo courtesy of NUSP / bulatlat.com)

In the ranking of career and education network QS, the University of the Philippines placed number one in the country and ranked number 62 in Asia. The Ateneo de Manila University was ranked 68; University of Santo Tomas, no. 104; De La Salle University, no. 107.

In the meantime, eleven universities occupied the same report’s 201+ ranking in Asia. These schools were Mindanao State University, Xavier University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Silliman University, Father Saturnino Urios College, Mapua Institute of Technology, Adamson University, Saint Louis University, Central Mindanao University, University of San Carlos, and University of Southeastern Philippines.

The Philippines has 2,180 colleges and universities only 112 of which are SUCs. Palatino noted that the Philippines is dominated by private schools.

“It is alarming that our SUCs are increasingly pressured by the government to function as private schools. The country’s premier university, UP, receives insufficient funds from the government. Thus, it is forced to raise tuition fees to cover the shortage of funds. Tuition in the university now costs as much as P1000-P1,500 (US$23.25-US$34.88) per unit. That translates to P18,000 (US$419) per semester, but this still excludes miscellaneous fees,” Palatino said..... MORE

As of five days ago, the NFA awarded to the private sector the rights to import 660,000 metric tons out of the 860,000 metric tons of rice to be imported for the year, this despite news reports of sacks of rice rotting in NFA warehouses. And rice traders who import the rice would even be exempted from paying taxes.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO Bulatlat.com
Who’s not surprised that there’s rice smuggling in the National Food Authority (NFA)? The employees of the NFA and the rice price monitoring group Bantay Bigas, that’s who.

According to Bantay Bigas, the rice smuggling at the NFA is actually “legalized practice,” and that the privatization of the food agency is to blame.

Roman Sanchez, President of the NFA Employees Association (NFA-EA) and member of Bantay Bigas, said that the privatization of the NFA has made the agency more prone to corruption. He said that because of the private sector-financed importation (PSF) policy , rice smuggling has become legal. The group calls the PSF smuggling because commercial traders are allowed to import rice without paying taxes.

“Rice traders connive with corrupt NFA officials,” he said.

Earlier last week, media was furnished with a copy of the audit report prepared by a three-member team hired by the NFA. The reports said that the implementation of the PSF importation from 2008 to 2010 resulted in massive losses for the government. It said that from 2008 to 2010, the NFA allowed commercial rice traders to import a total of 1.4 million metric tons (MT). The NFA also asked the Fiscal Incentives Regulatory Board, on behalf of the traders, a tax exemption worth P20 billion (US$46,511 million).

Bantay Bigas has launched “Brigada Kaldero”, a series of protest actions against continued increases in the prices of rice and other food items, as well as oil products. The group said that farmers don’t need dole-outs and demand that the government implement the National Food Authority’s mandate to ensure the country’s food security.(Photo courtesy of Bantay Bigas / bulatlat.com)

Under the PSF scheme rice traders are allowed to import rice duty and tax free. If they deliver earlier than the agreed upon schedule, the NFA even gives rice traders rebates. The traders then sells the rice they import to the public but with permits and licenses from the NFA. And they get to keep their profits from the sale. This is supposedly part of the government’s “commitment to develop the marketing and entrepreneurial capabilities of the private sector, primarily the farmer organizations.” However, only rice traders have the capital to finance rice importation.

The NFA union and Bantay Bigas said that there was nothing surprising about these findings and that there was nothing new about it at all. Based on Bantay Bigas estimates, smuggled rice comprises 15 to 21 percent of the country’s total rice imports. The group said that because of smuggling, Filipino farmers are denied remunerative income from their produce..... MORE

MANILA – When news broke out that former Batangas governor Antonio Leviste went in and out of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) at will, relatives of the victims of the Ampatuan massacre could not help but feel uneasy. They reiterated their call to be allowed to check if the Ampatuans are still in jail.

Former Batangas Governor Leviste was arrested by authorities May 18 after leaving the NBP premises. He is sentenced to six to 12 years of imprisonment after he was convicted with homicide for the killing of his long-time aide, Rafael de las Alas, in 2007 inside his office in LPL Tower in Legaspi Village, Makati City?
Editha Tiamzon, wife of UNTV’s Daniel Tiamzon, related that she and other families of victims went to Camp Bagong Diwa in January to check if the Ampatuans are still there. “We only wanted to ensure that they are still there but we were made to wait for one hour and were never allowed to enter the premises,” Mrs. Tiamzon said during the Monday’s event to commemorate the massacre on November 23, 2009 that claimed the lives of 58 individuals, including 32 journalists.?

Editha Tiamzon, widow of one of the victims of the Ampatuan massacre, calls for justice for her husband Daniel.(Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com)

“That is what we fear now. Ex-governor Leviste was able to go in and out of prison because he is moneyed, so is our enemy. When we went to check if the Ampatuans are still in prison, the BJMP told us that they were asleep during the day. Why is that so? It raises suspicions that maybe they are being allowed to go out at night that is why they are asleep during the day,” Mrs. Tiamzon said.

Mrs. Tiamzon appealed to Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo to allow them to visit the Ampatuans in jail. “We will not hurt them. We have already forgiven them but we still want justice to be served,” Mrs. Tiamzon said.

Alwyn Alburo, vice chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), said that they are awaiting President Benigno S. Aquino III’s promise to put a closed circuit television [CCTV] in the detention cells of the Ampatuans.
Out of 196 suspects in the Ampatuan massacre, only 90 have been arrested. Only a few has been arraigned and only one case is undergoing trial.

“We have no money to pay newspapers, radio and television networks to express what we feel. It is only in the streets where we can shout how we feel about what is happening. But what happened to one of us? She was charged with contempt,” Mrs. Tiamzon said.

A special division of the Court of Appeals (CA) issued a resolution April 12 charging Salaysay and Rowena Paraan, NUJP secretary general, of contempt.??The five justices of the CA who issued the resolution accused Salaysay and “foisting bias and corruption” against the court for their statements quoted in a news article where they expressed concerns on the?slow pace of the case.??“She [Salaysay] is one of those who spoke bravely but now she feels depressed because of the contempt charge,” Mrs. Tiamzon said.

Live coverage
Meanwhile, Karry Sison of the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) said there has been no action yet regarding the petition filed before the Supreme Court for live media coverage of the Ampatuan massacre trial.
Families filed the petition in November last year. The defense has filed its comment and the PILC in turn has filed its reply in January, according to Sison.

Lawyer Karry Sison says live media coverage is instrumental for the public not to forget the Ampatuan massacre.(Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com)

“Live media coverage is instrumental for the public not to forget [about the massacre],” Sison said, stressing that the petition asserts the freedom of the press not only for media but for the Filipino people in general.
“Alongside freedom of the press is the people’s right to information,” Sison said. “The people also have the right to a fair and public trial.”
Sison added that most of the families of the victims live outside Metro Manila. “Their situation prevents them from attending the hearings.”

In his speech, Luis Teodoro, deputy executive director of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication, encouraged the media to continue its coverage of the trial and of other aspects related to the massacre such as the dismantling of private armies..... MORE

It was a diplomatic statement from the German government in Manila, but it was clear it was not happy with the Pasay City Regional Trial Court judge’s decision on the “just compensation” awarded to the Philippine International Airport Terminal Corp. which was merely a fifth of what Piatco was seeking from the Aquino government as payment for its having expropriated the air terminal.

The German government said foreign investors would want to see a fair and swift resolution of a decade-old terminal investment row involving a German company and its Filipino partner before investing in President Aquino’s much-touted public-private partnership for country-wide infrastructure development.

At the same time, Germany declined to comment on a recent local court decision awarding $175.757 million in just compensation to Piatco, the consortium with local partner of German airport builder Fraport, for the expropriation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA Terminal 3 but called for negotiations to break the legal deadlock..... MORE

05/28/2011
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday said all Bilibid officials are under suspicion while her agency investigates the escape of murder convict Antonio Leviste last week.

“We cannot have a vacuum,” De Lima told reporters referring to the decision of Bureau of Corrections Director Ernesto Diokno to go on leave following the Leviste debacle.

“I don’t want to designate an insider (from Bilibid to take over temporarily Diokno’s post) because all of them are under a cloud of doubt,” De Lima added, explaining her decision to bypass Muntinlupa officials to fill up the vacancy.

De Lima said an overall reassignment of prison officers and personnel will be undertaken by her agency shortly..... MORE

While the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) leadership admits that the proposed three-year fixed term for an AFP chief of staff can contribute to the stability of the military organization, provision to replace a non-performing military chief should also be included just in case one fails to deliver.

“The three-year term for the next CSAFP (chief of staff, AFP) will provide greater stability in our programs,” said AFP spokesman Commodore Miguel Jose Rodriguez.

Last Thursday, the Senate national defense and security committee resolved to recommend to the plenary the approval of a legislation that would fix at three years the term of the AFP chief of staff, apparently to put an end to the so-called “revolving door” policy in the appointment of military chiefs.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said that the enactment of the bill, its version in the House of Representatives had already been approved on third and final reading early this year, would now shield the military organization from being “politicized” by the country’s leaders..... MORE

The House panel on constitutional amendments yesterday expressed hope that they would be able to convince President Aquino to support a proposal by former President Gloria Arroyo to amend the Constitution.

According to Misamis Occidental Rep. Loreto Leo Ocampos, chairman of the House committee on constitutional amendments, they have started with public consultations in Mindanao and that the results of the consultations could convince the President to prioritize the measure.

Ocampos said that the public hearings on the issue that would determine whether the people across the nation indeed want a change in the Constitution.

“It started at the Mindanao University of Science and Technology,” Ocampos said. The school is in Cagayan de Oro City. Ocampos said that aside from Mindanao the hearings or public consultations will also be conducted in Visayas and Luzon..... MORE

A governor of Gyeonggi in South Korea has offered help to find a lasting solution to Metro Manila’s traffic woes during a friendly visit yesterday to the office of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Tolentino.

Gov. Kim Moon-Soo who arrived May 27 in the country led the 27-man delegation in the country to foster city-to-city sisterhood cooperation between the South Korean province and local executives of Metro Manila.

This was stated by Kim during a brief press conference held inside the office of Tolentino.

Kim will visit and tour most part of thickly populated areas of the metropolis where, according to Tolentino, he intends to even ride in jeepneys, buses, trains and other transportation means in an effort to suggest formula as well as infrastructure based on South Korea’s experience on transportation activities..... MORE

Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. has called on the Upper Chamber leadership to conduct an inquiry into the reported “hidden charges” in tuition and increases in miscellaneous fees being imposed by some private schools.

Villar was prompted to file Resolution 488, asking the committees on education and youth, women and family relations to conduct an investigation, in aid of legislation, following reports on what the senator noted as “absurd” charges imbedded in the so-called miscellaneous fees imposed by some colleges and universities on students in the coming school year.

Examples of these absurd charges are air-con fees for air-conditioned classes, “energy” fees which are for instances wherever students charge their cell phones and other electronic gadgets in school, Internet or e-mail fees, sports and or athletic fees, UAAP fees, among other things, the senator said..... MORE